Robinson, an honorary research fellow at the University of Hull researched the story alongside Peter Chapman, from the East Yorkshire Family History Society.
Shipwrecks were not uncommon at the time, he said.
“The East Coast was really like the maritime equivalent of the M1 in many respects. It was a very busy highway of ships in the pre-motor age.
“In the 19th and early 20th centuries, shipwrecks along the Yorkshire coast were reported with much the same frequency as car accidents would be reported today.
“By the 1920s, and when the Rosa was lost in 1930, this was less common, but it was still an all too regular occurrence.”
Commercial diver Bill Woolford has spent his career exploring the shipwrecks off Bridlington and Flamborough.
He said there were three wrecks in the North Landing area alone.
“The Rosa, I believe, is the one that was stuck tight up to the cliffs,” he added.
“She founded and broke up, and like you can see, you’ve just got the boiler.”
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